A couple of days back on the blog, I speculated about what films in the 21st century would have been nominated for Best Picture prior to a rule change in 2009. As a refresher, nearly a decade ago, the Academy changed its Best Picture Nominees from a finite five to anywhere between five to ten. In that time frame, the magic number most years has been nine (it was actually a finite 10 for 2009 and 2010 before the fluctuation change). My recent post selected two pictures from 1990-2008 that I believe would have been nominated. You can find that post here:
https://toddmthatcher.com/2018/08/03/the-best-picture-coulda-been-contenders-1990-2008/
Today comes the inverse of that column. What if the rule had never been altered? What if the last nine Oscar ceremonies honored just five features?
In making these picks, there’s obviously one extremely easy selection – the movie that won. In naming the other four, I’m looking at factors such as number of other nods it received. For instance, if a Director won that award for their work and the Picture went to something else, that director’s film is in.
So let’s get to it in this alternative Oscar universe. I’ll be reminding you all the pictures recognized and then showing my final five.
2009
The Actual Nominees:
The Hurt Locker (Winner), Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air
Had It Been Five:
The Hurt Locker, Avatar, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, Up in the Air
2010
The Actual Nominees:
The King’s Speech (W), 127 Hours, Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone
Had It Been Five:
The King’s Speech, The Fighter, Inception, The Social Network, True Grit
2011
The Actual Nominees:
The Artist (W), The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse
Had It Been Five:
The Artist, The Descendants, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris
2012
The Actual Nominees:
Argo (W), Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty
Had It Been Five:
Argo, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook
2013
The Actual Nominees:
12 Years a Slave (W), American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, The Wolf of Wall Street
Had It Been Five:
12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, Gravity, Nebraska, The Wolf of Wall Street
2014
The Actual Nominees:
Birdman (W), American Sniper, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash
Had It Been Five:
Birdman, American Sniper, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game
2015
The Actual Nominees:
Spotlight (W), The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Room
Had It Been Five:
Spotlight, The Big Short, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant
2016
The Actual Nominees:
Moonlight (W), Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea
Had It Been Five:
Moonlight, Arrival, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea
2017
The Actual Nominees:
The Shape of Water (W), Call Me by Your Name, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Get Out, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, The Post, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Had It Been Five:
The Shape of Water, Dunkirk, Get Out, Lady Bird, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
And there you have it with my posts on the “what if” Best Picture happenings in Oscar world!
